Tag: equinox

The Equinox

This coming weekend will mark the final Equinox of the year. One in the spring, marking the change from winter to spring, and this one marking the change from summer to fall. Apart from separating our designation of the seasons, these times also represent the most colorful times of the year. New and colorful life in nature stirs with the promise of fruit, flowers and planting. In contrast, the coming event marks the harvest when nature’s bounty is gathered. In an agrarian society it is a time to enjoy the fruit, work is reduced, and the brilliant colors of a season well spent in growth shows its retirement for a time.

The fall Equinox is the time when, year after year, the Angel visited with Joseph. It is also when the plates were turned over to Joseph in that final year. This may not be mere coincidence. Every Equinox marks the balance of light and dark all over the world. From the North Pole to the South Pole, every place is in harmony with the sun. Wherever man lives, they receive the light equally; twelve hours of light and twelve hours of dark.

Joseph trusted in the power of that time, and perhaps waited to inquire as to his standing before the Lord specifically trusting that day would produce an answer.(JSH 1: 29) I also believe the balance of light has spiritual meaning.

Days and seasons do not control angelic visitations. They happen without regard to the calendar, but according to the will of God. However our faith matters. If we have great confidence, like Joseph, then marking your submission to heaven and desire to know your standing before the Lord may well be aided by such confidence.

I must confess, although I have had a number of visits, none have been calendar related so far as I can tell. There are many scriptural records of visitations that appear to have nothing to do with the dates on the calendar. They appear to me to be based on circumstances and our needs here, or upon the will of God. Therefore, I do not believe anyone is precluded from a visit at any time of the year.

Having said all that, I do not think the Equinox should go unnoticed. And, Joseph was alone when he was visited.

Spring

Spring is nearly gone (the equinox is coming soon) and we didn’t get a garden planted until yesterday. We’ve had snow on our yard within the last three weeks. Late start.

The result of the abiding winter is nature has just begun to wake up.  The evergreens are shooting out their new season’s growth.  I’ve been noticing again how even the most prickly evergreens, like the Colorado Blue Spruces, are so soft and fern-like in their new shoots.  Pretty, and very soft and agreeable, in addition to being fragrant.  We still get glimpses of Eden in the Spring, even in this fallen world.

Just before dark takes over the neighborhood each night the quail are hooting to get back together again. They get separated during their daily foraging and then want to regroup as a family before nighttime slumber. They will get in a tree or on a rooftop and begin to hoot. They make a funny little call. You can tell by the answer coming back which ones belong together.  They hoot, get closer, re-call again, get closer, until finally they wind up together and quiet.

Deer have been wandering through the neighborhood all winter long. They seem to be clearing out now because the valley is getting warmer, and there’s new growth on the foothills from the melting snow. The mountain tops are still under many feet of snow, so the deer won’t really return to the high ground until another month or so.

There’s an order to all this stuff. Wild and uncontrolled nature is organized, orderly, intelligent and the animal kingdom is divided into families. They feel joy at their companionship with one another as they fill the measure of their creation.

I am grateful each night, too, as my family gathers together to see each of us has made it through the day safely. There’s a Divine hand that can be seen in family life.  Even when there is difficulty and disappointment, the family is tied together by God and nature.

Stake Conference

Stake Conference weekend!  That means that I’ll be helping to minimize the crowds in the parking lot at the Stake Center by leaving my car at home.  I’ll also help out with the crowded seating problems at the Stake Center by leaving some seats open.  I know it is a sacrifice to do this, but it’s one I’m willing to make. 

It’s the equinox.  I’m going to do something memorable. 


All things bear tesimony

In reflecting back on John Pratt’s recent article on Venus and its tie to the Lord’s life, I have concluded that the phrase “under the earth” as used in Moses 6: 63 is referring to the cycles of the “wandering stars” or planets.  It does not refer to the subterranean composition of the earth’s mantle.
 
Venus disappears on the horizon, taking it “under the earth.”  Then it reappears again, symbolizing the resurrection of the Lord.  Venus being the great symbol of Christ, as John Pratt has shown.
 
As Val Brinkerhoff has also shown in his The Day Star – Reading Sacred Architecture volumes, the orbit of Venus tracks a pentagram in the sky over it’s eight year cycle. 
 
Toyotas and light beer are of more interest to us than the procession of the equinoxes through the zodiac.  All things do bear testimony of God.  But we prefer the billboards on the side of the highway.